Finishing up his meal, Travis followed behind Felix's lead to his study. Raiya and Nemo also came along as well but as instructed, they waited by the doorway. Once both he and Felix arrived, Felix closed the door before taking a seat at his desk. It was an interesting act if not a gesture that Travis noted. Was this to be a private meeting? He recalled Felix's cautiousness from earlier the late evening before and gathered if that was the case. There was little difference that Travis saw in that matter.

"I'll be amazed if some of these ideas even work." Travis replied as he shot Felix a glance before returning his attention to his notes he took from earlier, "Since we have very little to go by as far as what horrible things that could transpire if two Paragons are in the same space, I decided to take a few practical and cautious routes as a response to the endeavor."

Travis then took a step back and his fingers lit up as he casted a light projection spell and the tip of his conjoined middle and index fingers as he began to draw several shapes and depictions into the air, "We know the Pargaons - or at least Espial for that matter - can react to auras given if certain criteria is met..."

Travis then drew a circle with a simplified image of a Paragon within it, "Since we don't know what two Paragons can do together, one proposal is to essentially blind them. I have a theoretical runic algorithm that should be able emit a field of sorts to limit the Paragon's ability to detect any aura or mana sources. The only thing that could complicate matters is what wavelengths can the Paragon pick up on. There would be more testing - and to be honest - I may have to write the script to include all of them."

The Untalent then shifted to the other side opposite of the first drawing and began to draw a similar diagram, "This one perhaps contains the more straightforward thinking but may appear more unproven and possibly more reliable at the same time. What I have proposed here is something similar to the first concept. Where the first example simply blindfolds a Paragon, this plan basically tosses it into a locked closet. What we have is a small pocket dimension hub that the Paragons can be placed in separate from one another in a space outside our reality."

Travis then took a step back and stared at his design, "I can pull something like this off but will take a vast amount of time to program each pocket...and possibly make each on unique as a safety precaution. The main idea it to eliminate anyway for them in face with our plane existence...which does sound excessive I'll agree."

He then drew several lines connecting the Paragon to the circle in each depiction and which then expanded outward to other circles, "Both concepts are sound currently but I struggle to believe that anything like these may hold up forever. In fact, I'm willing to bet that plenty of mana will be needed to keep such containment plans going. We could use mana crystals as a source to power this spell but changing them out will be tedious and we'd run out of mana crystals before than we could have enough recharged."

Travis drew the golem back at the catacombs with the Paragon on its head, "Since we can't use the Paragon to power our spells without it eating us in the process, we could instead create an inlay formula to use the Paragon as the battery for these two designs; just like how the Paragon was used to power that golem we fought before!"

He then stared at the concept as if to review his work and then placed himself at the center of the amassed light-constructs. "The idea is very energy efficient but will take time to confirm if any of the formulas we come up with will be enough for the Paragon to cooperate with. But with that said, that's all I have as of yet."

Travis took a look at his work and then back to Felix, "I believe this is the part where you now have a go at my crazy ideas ..or my horrendous drawing skills."

Raiya could not think of a single thing she would want to do less than sit around and sing Kumbaya with Nemo. Not to mention the fact that she rarely ever listened to any contemporary music except for the hard rock they played ate the bars. So she just said, "Yeah, no thanks." and crossed her arms and scowled.

---

"Very well thought out. My own rough ideas involved something more similar to the first option. I had thought of the pocket dimension idea as well, similar to the mana inventory spell. Though, there is so much unknown about separate realms, so many different variables that we cannot account for. I'd rather stick to a physical option. You have the green light to go ahead with the blinding method. And if you need any help, you know where to find me."

Felix stood up and walked over to the door and opened it, directing Travis out.

"Alright, sorry for the wait." Felix said to Nemo and Raiya as he beckoned them in.

"If you keep making that face it'll get stuck that way." Nemo joked before giving a small sigh and tilting his head back to rest, quietly humming to himself for a few moments before the tune died out entirely. Soon enough Felix and Travis were done with their meeting and now he was up to bat. Nemo got up from his chair and walked inside the room.

"It's no trouble." Nemo replied to Felix as he sat down on a chair. "So, to what do I owe the pleasure, Felix?" He inquired with a pleasant expression.

Raiya rolled her eyes and Nemo's comment and then walked inside the room with Nemo. Felix motioned for them to sit and they did. Then Felix closed the door behind him, and sat down behind the desk.

"This is a bit of explanation and understanding of... well I don't want to call it, 'protocol', but it is protocol. Out in public, especially when handling leads to Paragons, you must be exceedingly vigilant in making sure nothing gets back to the Arcanocracy. This means, I want you to be careful who you are seen by. In public, if you can use illusion magic, or just steer clear of crowds, that would be the best. I'm sure I don't have to explain that the Vatican now knows your faces, and will be looking everywhere for anyone from this group. And there's the matter of if you get captured." Felix tapped on his manadial until a green aura proceeded from his wrist, covering the manadials of Nemo and Raiya. "I just cast a spell on your manadials. Just twist the inlay crystal three times right, two times left to activate it. The spell activates alerting me that you have been captured, as well as marking you two with an aura that is undetectable by anyone but me. This means that if they take your dials off, I will still be able to track you down. I will then attempt to retrieve you with everything we have. This is a last ditch effort though. Only activate the spell if it is completely necessary. And do everything necessary to avoid capture." Felix finished.

"Do we have an understanding?" Felix asked.

After Felix cast his spell Nemo's manadial displayed a automatic warning message in reaction to the intrusion. After inspecting the spell, Nemo pressed a holographic blue button to accept the temporary addition. Alternatively, the other red button would've purged it. Nemo only hoped the aura Felix spoke of wouldn't get immediately dispelled on contact with him, should it ever be used.

"Oh I understand Felix, stealth is my middle name." He stated.

"I have carried out plenty of recon missions for the Yakuza. I know how to keep a low profile." Raiya replied.

"Good, then everything is settled. Head out as soon as possible." Felix replied. He got up and opened the door once more. After ushering them out, he sat back down and began to pour over his notes and tomes. His goal was to drudge up more information on as much paragons as possible. Even fairy tales and fables could have pertinent information in them, he was not ready to dismiss any potential leads.

---

Felix was on his second day of no sleep, still pouring over hundreds of old tomes and thousands of slips of parchment with notes scrawled on them. Felix looked out the window to see the sun setting, as he took a sip of his coffee. While he did not find any particularly compelling leads, he did not come up empty handed. Felix checked his mana dial and saw that it was 17:34 (5:34 PM standard). Felix stretched and yawned, bringing his hand over to his stubbled chin to scratch his 5 'o clock shadow.

Raiya sat in a tub of green water, the smell of mint permeating from it. She thought that relaxing and unwinding before bed time might make it easier to stay asleep. She had tried almost everything, even becoming blackout drunk. Nothing could stop her from her night terrors. Perhaps all she needed was some R&R.

Nemo sat in his room, he had clearly been renovating the space during the waiting period. While it clearly wasn't done yet, he had made some substantial progress. However at the time he was clearly preoccupied with something else, as he hunched over a table, working on some sort of small unknown device with classical music playing fronm a vintage record player off in the corner.

Nemo's work was interrupted when a small beeping noise emitted from the other side of the room, causing him to raise from his seat to check it out. The sound came from a small gadget which seemed to be some sort of stationary modified manadial, as it had the same integral manacrystal design. Nemo sat down on a chair and pressed in the crystal, causing a life sized hologram bust of a person to display on the table. Nemo gave a small grin in response.

Chapter 2: Paragon of Fantasia

"Cypox, you have no idea how glad I am to see you, tell me, should I pronounce it with a zero instead of the o too?" Nemo asked, resting his head on his palm.

The hologram displayed a faded amount of color, but the person on the other end was rather hard to identify regardless. From what could be seen they work a large baggy black hoody that looked more like a cloak, a thin navy scarf, and a thick black latex half mask that covered their nose, mouth, and neck. The mask also extended upwards on the right side, fully covering their right eye. Leaving only their left eye visible, with an indiscernible eye color. But they did have a small amount of light blue bangs peaking out below the hood on the left side.

The figure, apparently going by the name Cyp0x, frowned with the remaining fourth of their pale face that was visible in response to Nemo, but didn't humor him any further. "I've done as you asked, tracking the recent movements of-" The figure stopped, falling into a short sickly coughing fit before resuming. "-the arcanocracy." They spoke with a very raspy voice, much akin to someone who had died and risen back up weeks later. However their voice seemed to be running though some sort of voice changer, making it sound more distressed and garbled than it should.

"Oh? That's splendid news, I trust you've found something interesting then?" Nemo answered.

"Yes, after looking into the movements of high ranking members, I found two have made a rather un-routine stop."

"Which ones might that be?"

"Stockton and Galvadon, at Ulysses Canning Co. located by the Chicago bay." Cypox explained, going into another small hacking fit afterwards.

Nemo gave a small laugh, sounding rather excited now. "And what might two high ranking fathers of the church be doing at a fish canning company?" Nemo stated, sounding like he already knew the answer now.

"That's for you to find out, and for me to have no part in anymore, isn't it?" The raspy figure responded.

"Very well, more fun for me then. Though you really need to get out more, Cypox. Seeing the beauty in life isn't the same when you see it through a screen. Might I suggest a nice dinner with a view? Maybe somewhere in Poland?" Nemo recommended as he got up from his chair.

Cypox didn't bother to respond, cutting off the feed without saying anything. Nemo didn't waste any time, putting his jacket on and leaving his room, locking the door behind him. He made his way down the stairs and out the front door. Nemo began to walk off on foot.

Raiya opened her eyes, feeling the mana signature of Nemo growing more distant, she quickly rose from the bath water and stepped onto the tile floor. She used a quick ionization spell to instantly dry the water from her skin, there was not very many good spells to dry hair without messing it up, so she left it mostly wet. She then equipped her usual ensemble (leather jacket, grey hoodie, jeans, etc.) Then she sprinted out of her room, down the stairs and out the front door.

Nemo had only made it 20 meters down the dirt path, Raiya easily caught up.

"So, where are we headed?" Raiya asked inquisitively.

Nemo halted after noticing Raiya, he turned to her before replying. "Where am I headed, is more appropriate for right now. You're staying here." Nemo stated before walking over to a picnic table outside the cabin. He sat down, "It's not because I fear you'll try to sabotage me to get out of our deal, or because you might be even more uncontrollable than I am, it's because of of where I'm headed. On one hand, it might be to the lead we're looking for, it might be a dead end, or... it might be an ambush. Should it be a trap, they'll be bringing enough force to accommodate every member in this group. So bringing you would only bring you down with me." Nemo explained.

"I'm an expendable person, getting caught or killed wouldn't bother me too much, and it certainly wouldn't bother anybody else either. That's why I'm perfect for these kinds of jobs. But the same doesn't go for you, and that's why I'm going alone."

"While we're on this topic, how about another story, hmm?" Nemo proposed, seemingly intent of continuing their exchange of information.

Raiya became a bit irritated, but did her best not to allow it to show through her emotions. This could have been a perfect opportunity to gain more insight into Nemo's powers and weaknesses. But, Nemo just dashed that in an instant. Could it be that Nemo actually knew what Raiya was planning? Is that why he forbid her? Or was he seriously concerned with her well being? She could not believe it would be the ladder, it had to be former. But just in case, she decided to not push for it. She was supposed to be averse towards Nemo, there should be no reason for her to want to spend time with him. It would look out of the ordinary if she was trying to go out of her way to spend time with Nemo. So Raiya gave up on going with Nemo.

"While we're on this topic, how about another story, hmm?" Nemo proposed, seemingly intent of continuing their exchange of information.

Just as it seemed bleak, Nemo was about to open up to her again, this time the information might be a weakness, she had to take what she could get.

"I don't have anywhere else to be," Raiya said, Go ahead.

"I've been captured before, as you know. However Felix's extended time out is dwarfed by some of things I've seen, I know what people are really capable of." Nemo leaned back into the table as he spoke. "Most people think murder is the most evil thing that can be done to someone. But as a killer I disagree wholeheartedly, I've found the opposite, the most vile things one could do often don't involve death at all. That's why I don't like seeing people captured." Nemo explained.

"I almost died once when I was young, before I had gained any of my abilities. I was fifteen at the time, I lived in a abandoned home outside the boundaries of a village. One day livestock began to go missing, then people. They began to suspect me, they thought because of how I looked, and my aversion to light, that I was a vampire and the cause of their misfortune. After the third person had gone missing, they sent a mob after me."

"First the mob pounded at my door, demanding I come out. I knew what they planned so I boarded up the doors with whatever I could at the time and hid inside. When I refused, they lit my home ablaze, forcing me out. I fled on foot into the woods for about... eleven miles before I was caught. Then I was told what my fate would be, a stake through the heart." Nemo said, pausing afterwards.

"Getting staked is an experience... worse than I originally imagined. It's not like getting stabbed, that's much quicker and easier. In my case they hammered it into my chest with a mallet. Each hit is like getting stabbed all over again. I passed out once it was over, but I didn't die, to my own surprise. When I woke up I found out why. The stake barely missed my heart and instead collapsed my left lung. I could barely breath, not to mention all the blood filling my throat. I had to crawl about a mile before I could finally get to my feet. Then there was of course the problem of the big stake in my chest, which was equally unpleasant coming out. Finally came cauterization with whatever I could find for tinder out in the forest." Nemo recalled.

"I spent multiple nights recovering out in the forest, I had nowhere else to go now. But during that time I learned that the only person I truly had to count on was myself. That people we're cruel and barbaric. I learned that the only way to survive is to be even crueler, to show them barbarism that they couldn't hope to match. I promised myself I would never endure such a hopeless defeat again." Nemo finished before letting out a small chuckle. "However I always did find it funny, after I discovered my abilities, it proved my prosecutors right in ways."

For the past few days, Travis had slaved away to perfect his complex runic spell; theoretically to be, at least in his own hopes and possibly Felix's as well to be potent enough to suppress a Paragon's aura detecting capabilities. Since he started this intensive project, his journeys out of his quarters were infrequent at best and when he was out and about, it was not for very long. The occasion meal, a few trips to the coffee pot, a bit of exercise, and perhaps a self-privileged hour to himself before resuming his work once more. Sometimes he would be summoned away from his work for longer periods. The practice could definitely be seen as unhealthy and even Travis would admit it himself that he was surely pushing himself hard to complete a project without an estimated deadline but if there was thing he found pride in, it was his work.

Just as his base-of-operations was back in Mexico, the room had become rather unkempt with clothing tossed to a corner and stacks of research notes placed almost anywhere he would consider convenient. Several stands holding his tomes surrounded his workbench where several large articles of paper enveloped the table's surface with additional notes and a tome or two spread out. The center piece was of his work was a sheet that had drawn on it a well crafted rune. Eye pieces and magnifying glasses peered over the design as a way for Travis to write the necessary micro-scripting for the rune to function correctly.

Never has he applied so much into one rune before. His latest creations were complex in their own right but only expressed the necessary instructions for the spell to work. Given the facts at hand, this monster of a rune could be considered overkill in terms of logic and rules. So much so with all the many lines and curves etched in with a series of linguistic text, the magic circle itself could've been past on as a piece to be displayed in an art museum. With the rune's sole function in mind, that alternative was perhaps a plausible destiny to meet.

As it was proposed to Felix as just a bare basic doodle originally, the nearly finished rune's intended use was to isolate a Paragon's sense of awareness and prevent it from possibly reacting to another Paragon were another one was to come within any proximity. Travis would've preferred to actually have another Paragon to experiment with but as Felix pointed out, two considered godly relics defined a much greater risk than to leave to chance. Thus Travis had bluntly applied every single safeguard he could think of into the large rune; any possible mana frequency he could write or reference, several long verses of multiplex instructions, and a number of redundant texts to leave no hole empty. It was virtually fool proof but unfortunately that remained to be proven if they acquired their next Paragon.

Travis leaned into his seat staring at his creation. He marveled at his work in all of its elaborate glory but remained compelled to judge it further, prying at it with simulated scenarios and what-ifs. While it was a good thing that everything checked out with each test completing without fail, Travis simply could not help but stress about any other or unknown factors he or anyone couldn't think of. It nagged at him greatly and he repeatedly restrained himself from adding any other redundancies that could risk reducing the rune's effectiveness, or worse, nullifying it already skeptical logic. The Untalent signed and pinched the bridge of his nose and leaned further back into his chair in an attempt to clear his mind of any worry or doubt. But every time he would even glimpse at a shred of the text, he could already imagine the gears of his mind overclocking once more.

With an annoyed grunt, Travis surrendered to the caring thought of putting his mind to something less taxing as it has already become. He quickly rose from his chair, grabbed his appropriate attire and departed the now-locked room before making his way downstairs. Perhaps he would be able to put his mind to something else useful or happen across someone else to converse with to retain his sanity seemingly lost in his chamber of productive uncertainty.

Raiya listened to the fantastical story and found it very hard to believe. Though, the theatrical nature of Nemo did suggest that he would exaggerate stories or even fabricate them in order to elicit emotional reactions from the audience. She didn't voice any of this to Nemo, though her expression did hint at doubt. Instead of mentioning her disbelief she simply moved on to a story of her own.

"When I left the Arcanocracy, I wasn't alone. As you know, Tsukihi and Akane came with me. My idea was to find myself in Japan. But one I got there, I found myself lured to the dark underground. I needed to find any information that could lead my to my parent's true killer. And I knew power through politically motivated underground groups like the yakuza could give the resources I needed to find that person. Raiya drifted into thought briefly before continuing.

"However, they weren't particularly receptive of me and especially were not receptive of my friends who came with me. At first, they warned us to leave. They would tell us to back off. The next day, the hideout I met them out would be burned down or otherwise stripped. But then, after I continued to find hideout after hideout, they couldn't ignore me anymore. Eventually they captured my friends and I. They told me that if I truly wished to be a part of their organization, that I would have to undergo an initiation." Raiya shivered for a moment as she recalled.

"They knew I was the ring leader, so they only made me go through it. But they forced Tsukihi and Akane to watch, as they did it. First they doped me up with a sort of combination of a paralytic and an anesthetic. Their concoction didn't make me lose consciousness, no that would take away their fun. Then they took large needles gauged large enough to be considered knives. They heated up the needles, and then jabbed about a hundred of them up and down my arms and another hundred all down my back. They made sure I didn't fall asleep by injecting me with a cocaine concoction. They kept the needles in place until the medication they gave me wore off. That was when all the pain began to slowly hit me. As the medication waned, the pain flared until the pain was so severe that I began to lose consciousness due to it. Of course, they couldn't let that happen. So they injected me with adrenaline as well. And then they began to take each needle out one by one. The pain was so horrendous, I almost went insane." She paused collecting her thoughts.

"Of course, I survived, and I passed their little initiation test. Afterwards they placed me in a medical ward that they ran, and forced me to heal without magic assistance. I was scarred beyond recognition. But after I healed, I became full fledged member of the yakuza. Shortly after I received my tattoos that enchanted my body imbuing it with snakelike qualities. Though, I suppose I'll leave the story of my tattoos for a different time." Raiya finished.

Nemo's upbeat expression gradually began to spoil into a melancholy one as Raiya told her story. "I guess both of our bodies have sustained more damage than they show." Nemo commented, pausing to think for a moment, then suddenly slamming his palm into his cheek to rest his head. He quickly let out a sigh, giving no explanation to his aggressive action against himself. Then he groaned and rolled on top of the picnic table from his seat.

"Your story was totally more traumatic than mine! I look like a fraud." Nemo got out before fulling rolling off the table, colliding harshly with the other bench before hitting the ground and going out of Raiya's sight. After a few moments of silence he crawled back up to the table and back into view. He loosely draped himself over the table and laid his head down by his cheek. "I knew I should of picked one of my later stories, this is the last time I choose just because it's chronological..." Nemo noted, his voice slightly thrown off from being pressed into the table.

Nemo sat back up, glancing at the time on his manadial before swinging his legs out from the table and getting to his feet. "I feel as if I misjudged you. For that I'll offer you a unique opportunity." Nemo walked over to Raiya, his tone and expression going to one of total seriousness now. "I'll answer any one question you have with complete honesty. I can already think of so many things to ask you, so I presume you have at least one thing to ask me. I do hope you make it interesting." Nemo proposed.

Nemo's eccentricity was a bit stronger than usual. This time he took to self harm. And Raiya would be lying if she said she didn't find it at least a bit amusing. She did her best to make sure her face didn't display it, though.

"I'll answer any one question you have with complete honesty. I can already think of so many things to ask you, so I presume you have at least one thing to ask me. I do hope you make it interesting." Nemo proposed.

Raiya was a bit stunned with the revelation that she would be able to ask any question. There were so many she could think of that she really wanted answered, but only a few that she could think of that would not offend Nemo. Of course she wanted to know his weakness, how to beat him, to kill him or otherwise blackmail him into relinquishing her freedom of services. And while he did say he would answer any question, she thought it'd be best if he didn't know for sure what she was up to. So, she decided to ask a simpler question.

"Why me? Why'd you come after me. I know Felix's list had my name, but something as simple as that would not be enough for you to voluntarily come after me. Why did you take me away from my task, my life goal? What reason could you possibly have had to track me down and fight for my services to such a degree?" Tears were almost welling up behind her eyes, her question obviously emotionally charged. Every second she spent here with this group was another moment wasted in not finding who took her parents away from her.

"Very well." Nemo stated.

"Your name on the list was what originally peaked my interest, and I wasn't lying when I said I sought companionship. It isn't often I get to converse with someone like this, for that I'm grateful. But you're right, the above reasons are too simple for me to go out of my way just for you. One might guess I did it for the challenge, but this time that would be incorrect." Nemo explained.

"You're insurance, the second coming of Gandhi up there might be pretty zen, but I don't think he'll ever be zen enough to let me off the hook with a slap on the wrist once this is done. I surely wasn't picked by his free will, he only tolerates me because I'm on Santa's list, but once this is all over, with our history, the incident with ole' Garvian and his squad, I think he has no reason to continue our truce. With that contingency in mind, you make the perfect choice. Because now Felix knows that if he intends to cross me, there can be consequences that don't even involve me having to duke it out with him for the fate of the universe again, as fun as that sounds. I don't think he's a man who will respond to the fear of what I could do to him, or anybody else here. But I think he will fear what I could do to you." With his answer finished, Nemo paused for a few moments.

"I understand that's probably an uncomfortable pill to swallow, for that, and my intrusion upon your work I deeply apologize. It may seem like a dastardly notion, but please understand it's only what I want Felix to fear. Fear is one of my greatest agents I have at my disposal. Something that despite it's wickedness, is often key to my survival. If I were to actually hurt you, it would be a betrayal and failure, to you, to our partnership, and my word. Preserving that is something I value much more than preserving my own life. But that's something Felix doesn't have to know."

Nemo seemed to be considering something for a moment before continuing. "Amidst all the terrible things, one thing I'm known for is that I always keep my word. So I'm going to offer you, should you choose to accept it, the age-old Japanese tradition of yubikiri. Otherwise known as the 'pinky swear'." Nemo said as removed his signature glove, something he had gone through great lengths to keep on so far. The nails on his right hand weren't sharp and pointed like his left, instead they smoothed off where his fingertips ended. "I promise I'll protect you, Raiya." Nemo said, extending his un-gloved pinky out to her.

Zuri has been trying her best to regain her abilities she used to have, and even though she got into the swing of things with her powers over the past few days, there is still a lot she has to do from practice and experience but she can make herself useful to the team. Abilities such as traversing through shadows very quickly, solidifying shadows to create a weapon of any shape, manipulating existing shadows to a certain extent. Nothing impressive but it's progress that she is quite happy with for now. She can also strike fear into people by temporarily amplifying her darkness aura which makes her look more intimidating in exchange for burning her mana reserves. There are a few other things Zuri can do, but right now her current abilities are quite passive.

@ShiningSector

Zoey was loitering around in the lobby area, reading a murder-mystery novel on one of the large couches. She seemed to be boredly thumbing through it, the well-worn cover held together by thick, clear tape. She set it on a side table and stretch, sighing. Her illusion was down, allowing herself to be viewed in her full, altered state. Her ears flicked as she heard Travis coming down the stairs. Well, smelled him first really. The disheveled state Travis had been keeping himself in the last week or so made him easily identifiable.

She briefly considered throwing up her illusion again, but shrugged the thought off. At worst, she could explain it away as a trial cosplay spell. At best, he wouldn't care. She sat up and looked his way, "'And so, the scientist emerged from his lab for the first time in weeks, his lab coat in shambles and his glasses a mess. But he'd done it: he'd finally found the missing piece of the puzzle.' An interesting quote to stop on as you come down the stairs, eh? How goes things?"

Raiya could hardly process all of this. Here she was trying to double-cross Nemo, when that was his platform all along. Or at least, that's what it felt like. She was being used as a pawn to ensure his freedom. Then he had the gall to extended his pinkie as to swear to protect her. That was when she She started laughing hysterically. First it started as a small giggle, then exploded into uproarious laughter.

"You, protect me? After just admitting to using me to protect yourself? You claim to utilize fear, but it seems you yourself are the fearful one. You have to keep a girl around as insurance?" She burst into laughter once more for a brief moment, and then her voice took a serious angry tone, "Here's some news for you. Felix doesn't give a SHIT about me. Why would he? He's thought I was a lying degenerate for years. It takes a fucking magical piece of paper for him to see me." Her voice took a somber, melancholy tone. "Your little plan won't work, so he better start thinking of another plan to secure your future."

Nemo's kindly expression went blank as Raiya rejected his gesture, which was probably the closing thing to looking hurt than Nemo could show. It didn't last long however, Nemo slipped his glove back on and wiggled his fingers, now sporting a small grin of his own as he looked back at her. "No... no, saying I'm 'only using you to protect myself' would be a vast misrepresentation of the nature of our relationship. You only asked me why I picked you." Nemo replied.

"You really think I keep you along just for my own safety, my future? No, no, no. I didn't pick you to deter Felix for my sake... it's for his. I don't fear a conflict with Felix, I long for it. I will bring the full force of my talents down onto him like a tidal wave of destruction. The only thing you could say I fear is the terrible acts I will do unto him should he ever give me a reason to. He's the only one who's proved to me he's worth my time without any payment at the end. But I think you'll make it so it never has to come to that."

Nemo's grin dissipated in response to Raiya's tone during the end of her exposition. "Don't beat yourself up, Raiya, I've found that bonds between friends, even family, people that you trust with your life, are broken easier than some may think. It's not your fault, it's not because Felix didn't care about you, it's because he cared about something more than you: himself. It usually comes down to the same thing, goals, dreams, the feeling of being in the right is often enough to get somebody to burn the people they care about for. In the society you and I occupy you'll find no shortage of people like that."

"If Felix would of came to you and said something similar, something that would of forced you to torch everything you knew, your dreams, your reputation, the people close to you, to live your life in fear. Even if they're right, would you? Or would you find it easier to just abandon that person instead?" Nemo asked.

Nemo reached out and patted his left hand on the right shoulder of Raiya's jacket, he ran his sharp fingernail through the small chain tassels of her epaulet as he spoke. "Bonds with another person put you in a great danger, they make you just as vulnerable as they can make you strong. My lack of them is something that made me so uniquely successful in my work. But the way I see it, without their danger, they wouldn't be beautiful. Just as without them, we become something hideous as well."